Newsletter for Children in Care - Issue 11

Welcome to the

Spring Edition of our newsletter

In this issue, find out about what fun

days out and activities we have planned

for you over the Spring and Summer.

We also want to tell you about the Kent

Pledge, which is about what Kent

promises to you as a child in care and

tells you what you are entitled to.

We love to hear your ideas about what

you would like us to include in this

newsletter, what you like and what we

could be doing better.

Enjoy the Easter holidays!

Email us:

VSK_Participation @kent.gov.uk

or send your pictures, news and info to:

Chloe-Elizabeth Mutton - Virtual

School Kent Brook House

Reeves Way, Whitstable Kent CT5 3SS

Included In This Issue:

Staff Update

Hellos and Goodbyes

Kent Pledge

What's in it for you

OCYPC

Children in Care Council News

Our News

Activity Days and what we

have been up

Bookmark Competition

How to enter and prizes to be

won!

Gemma Jo

HAPPY EASTER !

We have four new apprentices joining our team shortly, three girls and

one boy. Two will work with Sophia and Chloe in Whitstable and two

with Reece in Maidstone. They all have experience of being in the care

system, and their job will include organising fun activity days for you to

enjoy, help support the work of our three Children in Care Councils and

the work that the Virtual School Kent does.

In the next issue, they will tell you a bit about themselves.

So watch this space!

________________________________________________

Bella’s Goodbye!

One of our long standing apprentices, Annabelle Taylor has

successfully completed her apprenticeship and has moved on to work

with the Children in Care NHS Health Team. We are very sad to see

Bella go, but we wish her all the best in her new job!!

Here is a few words from Bella…

“For most of my life I have been unsettled, uncertain and insecure.

I didn’t have any hope or aspirations for my future; neither did I

have any idea as to what I was capable of. During my time with the

VSK Participation Team I realised who I wanted to become and

what I wanted to do.

I want to help others to realise and reach their own potential. I

have had the opportunity to complete qualifications in Business &

Administration and gain the other qualifications that I wasn’t able

to get during my time at school. Working with children and young

people has made me sure my future career lies with helping others.

Though I am sad to be leaving, I know that now is my time to say

“yes” to new opportunities given to me and step outside of my

comfort zone. I’m so proud of each and every young person I have

met in my time with VSK – you have all been a wonderful inspiration

to me and have given me many memories to treasure for a lifetime.

So after years of being worried about change here I am, for the

first time saying….Let the change begin!!!!

With hugs - Bella xoxox

Become

Become (which used to be called The Who Care’s? Trust,) is a charity for young

people in care and care leavers. They provide help, support and advice and help

them to achieve their full potential. They also offer advice on money, education,

employment, health and wellbeing. In 2015 they reached out to 636 young people,

of which 98% of them learnt valuable skills for the future. During Spring 2017,

Become are launching their new life coaching programme for young people. This is

where they can learn new skills to help them in the future. You can find out more

by visiting their website:

http://www.becomecharity.org.uk/

____________________________________________

Young Lives Foundation

The Young Lives Foundation is a dedicated

children’s charity committed to improving the lives

of vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people. Recently they came

along to our Children in Care Council meeting to let us know what they do, how

they can help with many different things, including being an advocate and helping

you if you have a complaint or want to find out why certain things have happened.

They told us how they will do the investigating for you, and make sure your voice

is heard, especially in your review meetings. YFL cannot always change things,

but will always help you to understand what has happened and why. You can find

out more by visiting their website: http://ylf.org.uk

Did you know that ChildLine, has recently

released an app call “For Me”. This app is

discreetly installed, and is free to use. For

more information—https://

www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/news-

opinion/childline-launches-new-app/

Have you received your copy of the Kent Pledge cards?

The Kent Pledge is 6 promises that Kent County Council make to you as a child in the

care of Kent. They are to:

Give you a sense of belonging

• Make sure you have an adult who is always there for you

• Make sure you have a good education

• Help you make good memories for the future

• Help you get ready for being an adult

Support your interests and needs

We have made the 6 promises into a set of cards that are given to you by your Social

Worker. They have been designed with the help of young people in care and are clear

and easy to understand. There are 2 versions, one pack for you if you are over 11 and

another pack if you are under 11.

If you don’t have a pack, just ask your Social Worker.

On the 14th February we held our first OCYPC meeting of 2017. OCYPC stands

for Our Children and Young People’s Council—it is a meeting that is held every

school holiday and is a chance for you to come along, meet up with us and

other people who work for Kent County Council and give your views and

opinions about being in care.

February’s meeting focused on what you thought about your Foster Carers and

what you think a good Foster Carer should be like. Everyone gave their ideas

about what their ideal foster carer would be like and spoke about what their

favourite thing about their carer was. Everyone got involved and gave some

fab answers and feedback. After this we decorated cupcakes – Yummy!

Some of the qualities that you said that it was important a Foster Carer had

were:

Kind

Loving

Fun

Caring

Good listener

Open minded

Honest

What do you think? Do you agree?

Would you like to join the OCYPC?

Or come along and see what the meetings

are like?

This is your chance to have a say and get

involved

Get in touch!

VSK_Participation@kent.gov.uk

Revolutions

On the13th February, we took a group of young

people to Revolutions Skatepark. Each group had a

chance to have a go at rock climbing and have a

skate with the scooters. Everyone had a brilliant

day, and some even overcame their fear of heights!

Kingswood

On the 15th February 2017 we took a group of 16 &

17 year olds to the Kingswood Centre in Ashford for

a ‘Transition to Independence’ Taster Day - This will

be the first of a series of activity days and events that will help prepare you when

you leave foster care and start to live independently. We had lots of fun – we took it

in turns to climb up to the high see-saw, it was a challenge but everyone took part

and gave it a go. We also had team races on the obstacle course with VSK staff

getting involved too. After lunch we discussed things like our Pathway Plans and

what we could focus on for our future series of work-

shops.

Before we went home everyone had a go on the Zip

Wire, it was so much fun!

This Art of Mine

On the 17th February we held an activity day at one of

our favourite venues, This Art of Mine, an arts and

crafts centre. We got to decide whether we wanted to

print our artwork on a T-shirt or a mug. Over the day we

had 42 young people attend and everyone had a lot of

fun by getting creative and a little bit messy!!!! Overall

we had a great day with a lot of smiles and laughs.

Takeover Challenge Day

Two of our apprentices also took part in the Children’s

Commissioner’s Takeover Challenge. The Takeover

Challenge is a project which sees organisations

across England opening their doors to young people

to take over adult job roles.

In Kent County Council, young people took over the

office of Peter Oakford for the day. Peter as Lead

Member for Specialist Children’s Services is involved

in a lot of the decisions that are made about you and

what happens to you.

The apprentices and other young people attended

meetings and briefings and gained an insight into

some of the work that Kent County Council do to

support children and young people. They were also

able to give us the benefit of seeing things from their

perspective as a young person.

For more information about the Takeover Challenge

please visit: www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/

takeover-challenge.

Your Review Matters

We have had a very busy few months here at

VSK. One of the projects we have been involved in

has been working with the IRO Service to produce

a short film about why it is important that you

attend your Review Meetings.

We had some amazing help from two young

people, Stephen and Rhiannon who did a fantastic

job explaining what their Review Meeting was

about and how they get involved in them.

The film will be available for you to watch very

soon, just ask your Social Worker or IRO to see it!

Would you like to be involved with

the work we do?

There are lots of ways you could do

this, one way is to become part of

our ‘Recruit Crew’.

This involves helping us to interview

Social Workers, Foster Carers and

other members of staff and to give

us your point of view about whether

you think they would do a good job.

Welcome to our new section of the newsletter!! This section is for you to

write about anything you like. This could include any questions you have

for the apprentices, any short stories, artwork or poems you wish to

share with us. Get in touch!

Email us:

VSK_Participation @kent.gov.uk

or send your pictures, news and info to:

Chloe-Elizabeth Mutton - Virtual School Kent

Brook House Reeves Way, Whitstable

CT5 3SS

To start this off we asked the Participation Team and some other members of staff

who work for VSK the following question:

What job did you want to do when you were younger?

Participation Team:

Chloe: That’s easy I wanted to be a famous horse rider!!

Sophia: I wanted to be a social worker!!

Jo: I wanted to be an artist

Gemma: I wanted to be a vet, but than I realised I most likely couldn’t handle with

operating on the animals. So I volunteered for an animal rescue charity instead!

Reece: Either a police officer, prison guard or sound engineer

VSK Assistant Heads:

Rachel Calver: I wanted to be an architect!

Jo Kelly: I wanted to be Chancellor of the Exchequer !!!

Margaret Hamlyn: I wanted to be a pharmacist (like my parents) until I was about 14

but then decided I wanted to be a teacher and I became one!.

Joanne Hayes: I always wanted to be a vet but I became a teacher!!!

What do you want to be when you grow up? - Send your answers in and we will

print them in the next issue :)

Calling all you book lovers and artists out there, this is your time to shine!!

We need to create some bookmarks and need your help.

We are looking for 2 fabulous designs, to go on the front of our bookmarks,

which will be sent out to ALL Kent Children in Care!!

The themes are Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter

Book Related Prizes will be given for the best entries, so get designing!!

So step up the game and grab that favourite book and use as inspiration

because we can’t wait to see the results !

Watch out for our next newsletter, where the winners will be announced and

your designs will be featured inside!

Entry rules

Must be designed by YOU!

Write your name and age on the back

Send your entries to:

Chloe-Elizabeth Mutton: VSK Brook House, Reeves Way, Whitstable, CT53SS

alternately scan and send them to chloe-elizabeth.mutton@kent.gov.uk